Well, it’s back to the snow and cold…!! :) For those of you who haven’t seen my facebook status or heard yet…I’m home again!! I got in at 10:15p on Monday the 21st and am still working at recovering from jetlag! :S It’s so good to be home and be able to catch up with everyone again. Now it actually feels like December and Christmas--I’ve been in the Asian heat and Australia’s summer for the past couple of months so it definitely didn’t feel like Christmas was coming…but now it does!! :D I miss all of my teammates more than I thought I would but I’ve had such an amazing experience and am now ready to move on and see what God has in store for me next. But first, I’ll catch you up on my last couple weeks of outreach and briefly summarize the whole trip…

Our second week in Thailand was lots of fun! One day we went to a university across the street from our accommodation and did a bit of evangelism there. I had a pretty good conversation with two girls that spoke a little English. It was encouraging to be able to get back out communicate with some people closer to my age again. We also had another day of slum ministry—it was so much fun being able to follow-up and continue building relationships with the kids we met last week.

On Thursday morning our team of 8 took off for a weekend trip to Bangsaen which is a smaller city about an hour away from where we’re staying. We got to work with a church that’s associated with Mennonite Brethen. It was funny because I thought Mennonites were only in the States, but people in Thailand actually know what a Mennonite is, too! :) When we got there we did a program for some kids in a slum and I got to play a little bit of volleyball with some guys from the slum—they were pretty good! :D The next day we got to work with and play soccer with some people and kids from an HIV/AIDS orphanage and that evening I gave a testimony at a church service. Sunday was our last day in Bangsaen and we traveled about 1 ½ hours to a tiny, rural church outside of town, helped teach Sunday School, ate lunch with the church family and came right back to town. It was in interesting morning! :) The church we were working with had a Sunday evening service so I got to help out with their Sunday School class as well. I again realized just how much I love working with kids!

The final week was filled with evangelism at the university, worship, slum ministry and helping ARK ministry pack their office to move into a new space. It was pretty exciting to see the opportunities that God is providing for ARK. We left Thailand on December 11—I was ready to get back to Perth and then home, but I also miss Thailand and especially the people and kids we were working with.
Back in Perth, everyone was together again and the base was crowded as there is another DTS running right now. It was fun to see people and get to relax together. We had a few class sessions—teaching on re-entry into the States and home life—but it was a lot of free time so I got to go to the beach! :D

During one of our meetings, each member of my DTS took a turn telling 1. Something God has taught us over DTS, 2. Our favorite part of outreach, and 3. How this will affect the rest of our life. Something God has shown me during the past six months is just how good He really is and the necessity of trusting Him with my plans and future. No matter how much I think I’m accomplishing and how good I’m doing on my own, it’s not me. God is the one who provides for me and guides my ways and it took a long time for me to realize that and be able and willing to surrender my plans and control of my life to Him. Once I did, I saw that with Him guiding my steps, I can accomplish so much more and have a way bigger impact than I ever could have on my own.

My favorite part of outreach was being able to travel to 4 different countries and experience 2 totally different cultures. It really opened my eyes to how big the world really is—there’s so much more going on out there besides what’s in Milford and the Midwest. I also loved whenever we got an opportunity to work with kids…I especially loved being able to run basketball drills with kids in Malaysia and work with the slum ministry in Thailand. God gave me a heart for kids that I didn’t know I had.

This experience has changed me in numerous ways and I don’t think I’ll ever be the same again. Now I know and have seen what I can do when I let God take control and lead me. I’ve felt God’s love for the nations, witnessed miracles, heard God speak through numerous situations and people and seen lives touched, even through me. It’s amazing what God can do when He’s freed and allowed to work in our lives. I would encourage anyone and everyone to do a DTS—it’s an incredible experience!!

Thanks so much for keeping up with the blog—it’s been fun being able to record and share with you what’s been going on during these past few months! I’ll try to get a few more pictures posted up on facebook so keep checking that.

Love you all and God bless!!

Rachel

PS. If anyone has questions-feel free to ask… :)

Week one in Thailand...

This week has gone by crazy fast but it’s been a blast! Some good news about Thailand—they’re having their cool season right now. We got here at the perfect time-I love you, Jesus! :) The only thing is that it’s not really very cool...i would not like to experience their summer season... :S I do need to correct one thing...i’ve informed all of you that i would be in Bangkok these last few weeks but we’re actually not in the city. We’re in town/community just outside of the city about 30 minutes called RAM 2. The YWAM base is located here but they just say it’s in Bangkok because otherwise people get confused-ha! :)

So this week has been pretty busy. The first couple of days were quite a bit of orientation with YWAM Thailand, ARK International (the ministry we’re working with) and with the volunteers for the rugby camp we helped with this weekend. We did a lot of preparation work for the camp—just kind of jumped in wherever we were needed. ARK has been planning the camp for a few months now—it was supposed to be held last month, but a flood postponed it until now. God’s plans are incredible—He organized it exactly so we would be able to help out and participate. :)

The camp was for kids ages 6-18 from three different slum communities around the area. The registration fee for the camp was 20 Baht (Thai currency) which is equal to about 65 cents USD. At the camp we had crafts, games, snacks/meals, teaching and of course, rugby drills. The camp went Saturday and Sunday and it was exhausting! :D Working with kids is so much fun and so rewarding but it definitely takes something out of a person...ha! The camp this weekend was a type of introduction—a precursor—to the club that ARK wants to start up in January. So keep the Nuk Suu Tigers Rugby Club in your prayers! :)

It’s so hard to believe that my time here is already almost half over. We’ll be helping more in the coming weeks with ARK’s ministry-doing work with the kids in the slum communities will be one activity. I’ll make sure to keep you updated as much as possible. I’m getting more pictures up on Facebook so check those out if you’re in the cool crowd and have a Facebook...! ;D Sorry this week’s blog is a bit shorter...i’ll try to get you more info next week.

Love and prayers always...
Rach

Hi all!! Sorry it's been so long...i just realized that i totally forgot to blog last week!! :S These past two weeks have absolutely flown by...my team is leaving Malaysia tomorrow!! On to Bangkok, Thailand where we only have three weeks, then back to Perth for a week of report-back and then i'm headed home on the 21st!! i can't believe how fast time is going.

So last week we were up north in Perlis, Malaysia...it was funny because we were only about 10 minutes from the Thai border--our host actually took us there one day! ha! We only had 4 days of ministry in Perlis but they were packed full...mostly filled with basketball. When we started playing i realized how much i actually miss playing basketball--it was fun. :) In the mornings we went to 2 different primary (elementary) schools and ran drills with the kids. we also played a little bit of knock-out and scrimmaged. I loved working with the kids...they're so much fun and they give it their all no matter how hot it is. We were outside each morning and i don't think i've ever sweated that much in my life!! ha! But it was good. In the evenings on the first 2 days we played basketball with some older kids and adults. The evenings of the second two days was more coaching and running drills with younger kids. Friday evening--our last day--we went to the pastor's church who was hosting us and did a little presentation for them with a skit and a few testimonies. So even though our time in Perlis was short, it was lots of fun.

Saturday morning we took a bus the 5 hours back down south to Ipoh, Malaysia. We arrived at about 3:30 and at 4:00, went to talk at and lead a high school youth group. I found out about 10 minutes before we left that i was preaching...nice. :D But then it all worked out because my leader told me to put different shoes on so i went back into the house and when i came back downstairs they had left me there! haha! it was slightly amusing. The people at the house were all worked up about it but i told them not to worry b/c i was speaking so they would definitely miss me...lol!! and they did...i got there in the middle of the service and gave a nice talk on God's love, how he wants a personal relationship with us, and speaks to us in order to share His plans for our lives and for the whole world. It was fun. :)

On Sunday evening, we went to a Chinese boarding school and played volleyball and more basketball with the kids there. We shared a video of our time in Africa, did a skit, and gave a few testimonies. I think it was pretty well-received. it was funny because after we were finished, all the kids stuck around and wanted to take pictures with us and get names and emails for facebook. ha. we were pretty much like celebrities! ;D

Monday was our day off--i did laundry, went bowling, and did a little shopping at the mall. It was an amazing, relaxing day. :) Monday morning we went to another high school and played basketball and soccer with the kids. It was again nice and hot... :S :) A couple of the kids did a dance with the dragon and drums--the ones they do for the Chinese New Year. that was pretty cool to see in person...In the afternoon we did a little bit of work around the base (they just moved into the house a couple of weeks ago). We mixed and helped pour some cement...at least we had a cement mixer (Praise God)...i thought we were going to have to do it by hand for a while! ha! Tuesday and Thursday were also work days--we painted the wall surrounding the house, dug out an area so they could pour cement for a garage, and did some other cleaning things. Today is Friday--the last day...i have a little bit of free time right now...hence the blog... :) but this afternoon/evening we're going to do a program for a children's home. I'm giving a testimony about God's love and faithfulness.

...And we leave the base tomorrow morning at 4:00 to catch a bus to Kuala Lumpur and our flight leaves at 10:30a to Thailand!! I'm pretty excited about Bangkok...i know God has some amazing plans for the last 3 weeks of outreach. The real challenge will be fighting through the exhaustion--this has been an extra long outreach since we left early and i'm getting pretty ready to stop living out of a hiking backpack...so prayers for strength and endurance are much needed. :)

Thanks for all your prayer and support!! i love and miss you all!

Love, Rach

Hey again!! Another week gone... :) Malaysia has been amazing!! I think this week has been one of my favorites. The weather has been ridiculously hot and humid…it’s sick. Lol! I think this has been some of the most intense humidity I’ve ever experienced in my life. Tonight (Sunday), we went to eat by the sea and I could literally feel the water around me. Gross. ;) It is nice, though, to actually have an opportunity to be warm instead of constantly cold. My outreach team has found it amusing that I’m always cold and they now automatically offer me their jackets and sweatshirts because they know I would always want them. But I can happily say that I don’t have that problem here. Ha!

So back to the week…we got to Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday and traveled the four hours by bus to Penang. We got to the YWAM base and carried our luggage up the lovely seven flights of stairs :S. We spent that evening just relaxing and getting settled in. Wednesday was our free day/orientation. Penang is an extremely interesting city—there are numerous people groups located in the area. The main ones are Indian, Chinese and Malay which makes for some AMAZING food!! On Wednesday, a YWAM staff member took us to his favorite Indian restaurant. It was one of the most incredible meals I’ve ever had!! Our plate was a banana leaf and we got a portion of rice with a couple of different sauces, sweet potato, okra and a portion of meat. I had mutton and it was so tasty. The best part was that we ate it all with our hands-so amusing!! :) Besides an incredible food selection, there’s also quite a spread of religions. On the tour of the city we got we visited a mosque, a Hindu temple and a Chinese temple. Malaysia is about 52% Muslim with only 8% Christian. All of the different religions definitely create a stronghold over this area.

Thursday was our first day of ministry. We started out with some street evangelism around the base—we mostly went to the temples. Then in the afternoon, we got to play floorball (basically floor hockey). It’s pretty new to Malaysia still, but the church we worked with this week, Gateway City Church, is starting a sports ministry that emphasizes floorball. In the evening, we went to a park and evangelized to people who were exercising or hanging out there. Friday was more floorball and then a prayer meeting at the church. Saturday we got up and did some more evangelism at the park, played futsal (indoor soccer) and even more floorball! Lol! Needless to say, we have all been exhausted this whole week. :D On Saturday evening, we were able to do a skit and share a couple testimonies and a word with the kids we were playing sports with so that was a lot of fun.

Today was our last day of ministry and I went with part of our team to a Methodist church here in the city. We went to the 9:00a service because we were supposed to be back at the base at noon, but then we discovered that we didn’t have to be back, so we stayed for the contemporary service at 11:00…which turned out to be basically the same service. Ha! We had a little bit of free time after lunch and then left for the Gateway service at 4:00. We got to spend some time there at the church and went out to eat afterward with some of the members of the church and the people we had worked with. I can’t believe I’m leaving tomorrow!! I’ve really loved our ministry and time here and wish I could stay longer…I really enjoy the atmosphere and the busyness of Penang. One of my favorite parts (and it could be just because I’ve missed it for so long) is that even at 10:00 at night, there are still things going on and people out and about. In Australia and Africa, everything has shut down by 5:00. It’s sad! Haha. I also love the diversity of the city—how there are so many different types of people, activities, foods, etc. It’s incredible. If you ever get a chance to come to southeast Asia, make sure you stop in Penang—it’s amazing! :D

Tomorrow my team is headed up north to Perlis where we’ll be for about 5 days. I think it’s more of a rural area so we’ll have to see what type of ministry we’ll be doing. It’s also a mostly Muslim area so I’m excited to see what types of things God has planned for us there. Continue to pray for strength and energy for me and the rest of my team as well as soft hearts to be able to hear God and His plans clearly. I miss you all and think of you…

Love and prayers,
Rachel

Malaysia here I come!! :D This past week was the last few days in Swaziland. After our free day on Tuesday, we had Wednesday-Friday of ministry. Wednesday this week was pretty much the only nice day—the others were cold, wet and rainy. Seriously…this has not been Africa! Haha.

Wednesday and Thursday were both work days at the base—we painted the front wall and gatehouse, scrapped more mold and paint off of the house and cleaned the base really well. Friday was also rainy, but we got to get off of the base-yay! :) We worked with a ministry called Children’s Cup. They have 19 locations throughout Swaziland and are continuing to expand. The locations consist of a building with 2 classrooms, some playground equipment, an outdoor stove/cooking area and a restroom. They serve 2 meals a day and serve as a sort of safe house for kids at risk or really just any kids who need somewhere to go during the day (8a-4p). Each locations has 2-3 teachers on staff who school kids grades K-3rd. These 4 years get completed for free in 2 years. We got to go to 2 different locations-at the first we played games and just hung out with the kids and we also helped the staff serve lunch (beans and rice). At the second locations we hung out with the kids for a little and then performed a skit and had a little bit of teaching on being a friend and trusting. It was a lot of fun. God has continued to reveal to me over and over just how big his heart is for the people and especially the children of Swaziland. I think Friday with the kids was my favorite day of ministry so far! :D

Something that God has really been emphasizing to me personally over the last week is that He loves me…a lot. He just wants me to be able to relax in His presence and into His arms. As you know, I’ve been struggling throughout this DTS and outreach with trust and letting God take full control of my future, etc. I want to do what He wants for my life—to follow His plan—but I’m always worried that I’m going to miss or I’m not going to hear what He has for me and I’ll be trying to do my own thing and fail miserably. This past week, God has really just shown me that whatever I do and wherever I go, He will bless me and He will use me. Also, if I’m not walking in blatant disobedience to His will, I probably just need to relax into the arms of my loving Father and live my life for Him.

God speaks how and when He chooses…not when or how I want Him to. I just need to be patient, make sure that my heart is staying soft toward God and continue to pursue an intimate friendship and relationship with Him. That’s really the main thing He wants from each of us as believers—an intimate friendship where we turn to Him and rely on Him in every situation—not just when we’re in trouble or times are hard. That sounds like it should be so simple, but I think it’s actually one of the most difficult things for me (to have that intimate friendship and continuous communication with God throughout the day). I want it to be something visible—to be able to see the results and the progress, but it’s a process-one that takes patience, perseverance and time. It’s a day-by-day walk that’s sometimes hard and frustrating. But in the end, it’s the best thing there is. A monk named Brother Lawrence put it pretty clearly—“There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God. Those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it.” Man, what a challenge… and man, what a sermon-ha! Back to the week… :)

Today we left the base and Swaziland and took a Kombie (a taxi van) across the border to Johannesburg, South Africa. We’re now staying at Joseph Project—a YWAM base here in the city. It’s funny because we are staying here with another team that’s on outreach and it happens to be the DTS from YWAM Swaziland (where we just came from)!! So a couple of the guys on my team are sharing stories with the Swaziland team about the staff there and the animals they have. It’s quite amusing. :) We got to the base around 2:30p and just hung out the rest of the day—caught up with the other have of our DTS.

Our flight leaves Monday and we head to Singapore and then on to Kuala Lumpaar, Malaysia. We’ll be there for three weeks as a whole DTS (15 of us instead of just my team of 8). We’ll be traveling to three different communities, working with each place for a week. Those weeks will go by so quickly!! :) Prayers for safety are welcomed... :D Love you all so much and miss you tons! May God bless you abundantly this week!!

Love, Rach

Hello all!! Another week gone…it’s going so quickly-I can’t believe it! I have three more days here in Swaziland and then I’m off to Malaysia. This past week we were pretty busy but there wasn’t as much door-to-door evangelism. Part of it was the crazy Swaziland weather…we always make fun of how the Nebraska weather changes quickly but this is insane! Haha. On Wednesday, it was hot and beautiful—I actually got sun-burned! :) The next day was rainy and cold the entire day—we were living in a cloud! And the exact same thing happened on Sunday. We left for the church we attended this week at about 10:00 and the ¾ mile walk was hot—I was actually sweating by the time we got there. When we were preparing to leave at about 1:00, a storm was rolling in and we got soaked on the way back. It was crazy!! :D

Anyway, ministry this week…on Wednesday we worked here at the base—the boys dug a latrine that is 7.5 feet deep—it’s a massive hole! Lol. I helped clean out a room and scrape walls so it can be painted for a staff room for the base staff. On Thursday it was rainy and such, so we went to visit the government hospital in Mbabane again. God revealed to me that I have a passion for children and people who are hurting and weak. I felt a calling toward some kind of therapy—not sure if it’s physical or emotional (counseling) but I’m pretty excited to see how that plays out. I think part of the reason I’m so soft-hearted toward those who are sick and hurting is because of Jess. I’m seeing more every day just how amazing she is—she has the highest pain tolerance of anyone I know and she never complains. You’re incredible, Jess, and I love you so much!! :D After the hospital, we did a little street evangelism at one of the main shopping areas in the city.

Friday morning was base work again—we scrubbed mold off of the property’s front wall and gate. It was lovely…ha! In the afternoon we went out and were going to do some open-air teaching and evangelizing, but the battery for our sound system died and then it started raining so that kind of flopped. :S But we had an incredible brie (barbeque) with chicken, pork, sausages and wildebeest! The wildebeest was pretty interesting to say the least… :D. Saturday was another hot day—we hosted and helped run a soccer tournament in a near-by town. Our YWAM team got third place…out of 4 teams ha! Desiree and I didn’t play soccer but we were in charge of passing out snacks and drinks. There were probably around 60 or 70 people there. We had 24 loaves of bread and a couple jars of jam so we made jam sandwiches for the players. After we ran out of jam with about 10 loaves left, we also ran out of sliced bread…so we started ripping pieces off. People just kept coming and it felt like the feeding of the 5,000—it was awesome!! Haha. That was a pretty exhausting day but it was tons of fun. :)

Sunday was church day—we went to a church that’s about 6 months old and has about 15 members. They meet in a hut attached to the back of someone’s house. The walls are cardboard and there isn’t enough room inside the hut for everyone so they have a tarp up with about 16 more chairs set up underneath that. It was amazing. I’ll try to get some pictures up sometime soon-I promise!! There was a lot of worship—Africa loves worship. :) Desiree gave a short testimony and then I got to preach! :D I felt like God was telling me to encourage them and give them hope for growth. The scriptures I used were Colossians 1:3-12 and Hebrews 12:1-2. It was actually pretty fun and I bet I’ll get to do it again sometime in the next few weeks. Yesterday was another cold, nasty day and we again scrubbed mold off of the front gate and also in a house that they’re trying to fix up. This property was once amazing…it’s a bummer that it sat for about six years and went to junk. :( Again, I’ll work on taking pictures and getting them up on facebook!

There have definitely been some interesting experiences here in Swaziland—it’s been so good! I’ll be sad to leave here in a couple days but excited to see what else is in store for this adventure! God has continually revealed things to me, both about Himself and about me as well. He is continually working on my trust in Him—He wants to show me His goodness and His intense love for me without me worrying about what’s in store for me. It’s tough but growth is so good! :D Continue to be malleable and allow God to work in and through you!

Love and prayers,
Rachel

Sawubona (hello in Swati) ;D I’m in Swaziland and have been for the past week. This is definitely more “Africa” than South Africa was but it’s still pretty modern. We’re staying at the small YWAM base located in the capital Mbabane. The base is actually a homestead that’s located on top of a mountain—with an awesome view of the city!! It’s gorgeous. The base has only been here for about 3 months so things are still being worked on…no internet access…until a few days after we leave anyway..!! :S (oh well. :)) There’s no shower—yay for bucket showers!! Ha! And there’s no hot water—we have to boil water for showers, etc. I’d say it’s a little like camping—I’m sleeping on the floor and there are multiple bugs that like to find their way into our sleeping area…I don’t really appreciate that… ;D. But even though the living conditions are a bit rough, we’ve had some wonderful experiences.

We’ve been staying pretty busy doing ministry every day. Each day we’ve done at least a little bit of door-to-door evangelism. We’ve talked to and encouraged quite a few people and it’s actually been so encouraging for me as well. The team has seen some amazing things done through us with God’s power—we’ve had about 10 salvations, one blind man could see and a lame man was healed as well. It’s so awesome when those miracles happen because it’s definite confirmation that God is working through us and stirring in people’s hearts. Besides door to door ministry we’ve performed a few dramas—one at an elementary school’s morning assembly, two at a couple of different churches and one for a group of people we were working with on Saturday. Dramas are almost a necessity here in Africa…they think it’s pretty lame if you aren’t performing some kind of song, dance or skit so those are always fun. :D
On Thursday the team went to an area to do some door-to-door evangelism and we ended up driving on a horribly bumpy dirt road for about 15 minutes to the middle of nowhere and hiking about 45 minutes up a mountain to a tiny one-room church where we then proceeded to clean up the inside of the church and dig away grass from the building in a 3 foot radius around the church—I was wearing a skirt. Ha! After cleaning up around the church, we discovered that about 12 people were going to gather for a church service that we ended up leading. Needless to say, it was an interesting day…and we’re going back next Thursday!

Even though I’m not in lectures, God is still speaking to me and I’m still learning—maybe even more than I was during lectures. For example, I’ve decided that it’s totally worth it to give everything to God—my family, future, life, etc, so I surrender it daily to Him. I still have to do it daily and some days are harder than others, but I know that if I give Him control, He won’t let me fall. Another thing that God revealed to me today was in Proverbs 13:25 and Psalm 36:8. Both of these verses talk about how God provides continuous food and water for those who trust in Him—we’ll never hunger or thirst if we continue to seek Him and take from those reservoirs. But the only way to stay nourished is if we take from it freely. I have issues with this concept because I always feel like I have to be doing something—I have to be reading my Bible or praying or asking for forgiveness, etc. I don’t feel like I deserve to have that without doing anything for God in return, but that’s exactly how it is. God just wants us—He wants our devotion, our surrender, our time, our love, but we can’t do anything that’s of value to Him. I hope that makes sense…it does in my head anyway. :D I just have such a hard time wrapping my head around it. Mark 10:15 says, “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will not enter it.” Kids love getting gifts and they receive without guilt or remorse—they don’t feel like they have to give something back-they just joyfully receive. So basically if I don’t learn how to simply accept what God has given me, I’m missing out. If I’m always trying to give back, I’m missing out on the joy and the gifts that God has for me. Like I said, I’m still finding things that I need to work on. :)

Today is our free day so I’m trying to get all of my internet stuff done for the week…you can probably expect another blog about this time next week. I hope this updates you a little on what’s going on with me…I’m having a blast and learning so much—especially how blessed I really am. Today I went into a home where 6 women were raising 2 babies…the house was one room and it was smaller than my bedroom. There was basically a dresser, a tv, a couple of benches and a bed—we’ve all been extremely blessed.

I hope your week is going great, you’ll hear from me soon… :D

Love, Rachel

Ahhh…last week of lectures. It was a tough one. For those of you who read my email update, this may be a lot of the same thing, but that’s okay. :) The topic this week was Lordship. That’s definitely a tough one…surrendering everything to God and letting Him take control of my life is so hard for me—and I’m sure I’m not alone. :) I asked God at the beginning of the week to let this be a big week—I asked Him to break my heart. He didn’t let me down-ha!

Some key points: I have control issues. These control issues lead to trust issues. This lack of trust has been hindering my relationship and holding me back from the deeper intimacy I could have with my Father. And…it will continue until I figure out how to surrender things. Haha...oh I love having such problems. :S Basically, I like to know what’s going on—where I’ll be in the future, what I’ll be doing. Since I don’t know where or what God wants me doing, I feel powerless and out of control which leads to a lack of trust. I’m scared that God will call me somewhere remote, solitary and horrible and that I’ll hate it. As you can probably see, this poses a slight dilemma. :D I’m closer to complete surrender than I was at the beginning of this week, but I definitely still have some work to do. Really, it’s a daily choice—to pick up my cross, to decide to let Him be in control and to follow Him. I learned some key things this week that I will definitely look back on in the future.

One thing that really struck me was our speaker’s quote, “If Jesus is not Lord of all in my life, he is not Lord at all.” He gave an excellent illustration with this—think about a bottle of pure, clean water—but this water has one drop of sewer water in it. Would you want to drink it?? Our lives our like that…we can be 99% devoted to God and give Him almost everything...but that one tiny percent is what holds Jesus back—that makes all the difference in how much freedom-how much room He has to shape and form our lives to where we can be used by Him. Pretty powerful…

Another thing that stood out to me was when the speaker stated that the most fulfilling life I could possibly live is one of complete surrender. Basically, I could get back from DTS, finish school, get a job, get married and have a family, be involved in a church, etc. but if that wasn’t God’s plan for me—if I wasn’t surrendered to Him and His perfect ways, it wouldn’t be fulfilling to me. I would always feel like there was something more. That’s pretty hard for me to fathom because right now I feel like I have a pretty good life, but thinking about it…how much better could it be? How much more could God give me or show me? I won’t know until I give it all to Him—until I trust Him with my family or future location. That’s something I’m still working on but I think I’d rather just go for it and see what God can do with this short life instead of trying to stumble around and figure it out myself.

Lordship stinks. That’s another thing I’ve learned this week. :D This has definitely been the hardest week of my lecture phase, but when I look back on it I think it will be one of the best, if not the very best. I’m thankful for the pain and the struggles because that means I’m actually getting somewhere.

My team leaves for Swaziland tomorrow. We have a lovely 27 hour train ride to Johannesburg, SA and from there we will take a van into Swaziland for the next three weeks of outreach. I’m really unsure about internet access there but I will continue to blog and update all of you as soon as possible. Please keep me in your prayers as you are in mine. Missing you…

Rachel

Hey everyone! It’s now October 3 (this date is actually right) :D The past two weeks have been pretty crazy, busy, exciting, etc. all at once! Ha! The last full week in September was still outreach in Cape Town. We had a day off on Monday and I went with some friends to a neighboring suburb called Wyneburg. We did a little exploring and got a tiny bit of internet time. :) The rest of the week was filled with continuing to work with our church’s youth group and evangelizing in the community around the church. We connected with the other half of our DTS for a couple of days and on Friday we ran a soccer tournament with them. My team performed the Lifehouse drama (check YouTube) after the soccer tournament and explained how the skit depicted our relationship with Christ and what He did for us. It was a pretty good experience and I’m sure we’ll be sharing that skit with many more people in the coming weeks! :)

This past week was spent in Muizenberg which is a suburb of Cape Town, approximately 25 minutes from where we were at Pastor Andre’s house. We’re finishing up our lecture phase at the YWAM base here and this week’s topic was Missions. It was a very challenging week, especially for me. The very first night, our speaker talked about how we think that we have to have some kind of electrical feeling about something before we obey or listen to God, but that’s not how the kingdom of God works. We basically have two options: 1. To live in my safe zone-in what I know and what’s familiar. In this area we are secure and we know our surroundings, but God is limited—He can’t work in a confined place like that. OR 2. We can step out into the risk zone-the area where God is allowed to work in our lives, to make things interesting, to grow us in Him. This is the place where God is…this is where life goes from being dull and boring, to exhilarating and exciting. It was pretty challenging because I know that I’ve been praying for God to change my heart and to work miracles in and with me, but I’ve wanted to stay in my safe zone. I’ve been wanting to hold on to my family, friends and all that is familiar and comfortable at home, but I know that if I’m trying to control my future and where I go, I’m limiting God and the things he can do with my life. Wow. So I decided to give it all to him. I decided that no matter where God takes me in the future, it will be amazing and I will be happy because God’s plans for me are way more exciting than any plans that I could even THINK of on my own!

One other thing that really stood out to me this week was the fact that I can be a good student, a good leader, a good teacher, doctor, lawyer, mother, etc…but unless I step out into my risk zone and give EVERYTHING to God, I’ll be useless and irrelevant. Without Him leading me, I’ll just be floundering around hoping that I can make some impact on my own. But seriously…why not trust him?? He knows me better than I know myself—He know my passions and desires that I don’t even know yet (but that I’m hoping He’ll reveal to me sometime in the coming weeks… :D), and the best part…He cares about my future more than I do! That blows my mind but is also so comforting at the same time. On this topic, the verse Romans 12:2 is pretty relevant. The will of God and what He has for my life is enjoyable, pleasing, perfect and FUN!! It’s not sad or painful or horrible or lonely like the devil makes it seem…it’s actually a happy thing to “take up our cross and follow Him.” Because since Jesus has already taken up His (and our) cross—and triumphed over it (Col 2:15), it’s now available to us as a weapon against Satan…it’s joyful! :D

Anyway, I hope you liked that sermon..ha! It’s now the weekend and it’s beautiful outside!! Since I’m staying approximately 100 feet from the waterfront, I think I’m going to spend the rest of the afternoon there! Heehee! Apparently this weekend there’s a big thing going on and they’re trying to break the world record for how many people ride one wave…something over 100 I believe. I’ll try to fill you in on that one later. :) I hope you all have a great week, I’m praying for you and love and miss you all,

Rachel

[This is the blog from September 21…] How’sit? (that’s South African for ‘how are you?’-- :D) This is the first time I’ve had internet in a week so I thought I would take this time to update all of you and let you know what’s going on and tell you just how much I miss all of you! :D This week has been pretty busy…but it’s been good. My team of 9 is still in Cape Town, SA doing outreach. We’re working with a church called Spirit of Grace Church in a suburb called Parkwood. It’s a little bit of a rougher neighborhood, especially at night but we’ve stayed safe and I’ve felt pretty secure the whole week, which is always good. ;D The area of Parkwood is 1.2 square miles and approximately 80,000 people live there. Needless to say, it’s packed with people. One of the men from the church told us that usually about 20 people live together in a one room apartment and about 30 are in a two room flat. I can’t even wrap my brain around that!! This area is pretty heavily burdened—we can actually feel a heaviness when we’re in the region. There is an excessive amount of drug and alcohol abuse in Parkwood especially with the young people—a lot of them drop out of school too. It’s sad, but it’s good to be here and to have my eyes opened even more to the things of the world.

We’re staying at the Pastor’s house in a small apartment he built in his garage. It’s definitely an interesting experience learning to live in such a small area with 8 other people—6 of them being boys… :S ha! We have one bathroom which sometimes gets interesting, especially with the shower situation. I guess I’m just thankful that everyone is actually showering!! Lol! We buy our own groceries and cook our own meals—we’ve had some pretty good dinners so far. Most days for lunch we pack cold meat sandwiches that we eat at the church. Tonight we actually got to have a brie (a SA barbeque) with the pastor’s family and a few friends. We had borewors (sausages), chicken and lamb chops—very good!

This week has consisted of a few different things—the church had their 10 year anniversary this weekend so they had a crusade which was basically a big celebration consisting of 3 different services on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We helped some this week with setting up for that—decorating the church, handing out fliers, etc. We did some street evangelism a couple of afternoons—just walking around Parkwood, talking to people. I had a couple of good conversations with people, got to pray for a couple of people, and played with lots of kids. It’s amazing how open and friendly the people are here—EVERYONE says hi to each other and they’re willing to invite you into their home even though they’ve only just met you 3 minutes ago…nothing like the States. :D There are a lot of Muslims around the Parkwood area so there have been a couple of good conversations there as well.
Wednesday and Thursday evenings, a local church was also having some type of crusade so we went to support them in that—I actually gave a testimony on Thursday about what God has been doing in my life throughout DTS, especially with trust and learning to turn everything over to Him. It was good to get up and speak—not really my favorite thing to do, but I’ll probably be doing that a lot during the next few months. ha.

The weather here has been warming up—spring has sprung! :D We got to take a little break on Saturday and make a trip to the beach. It was perfect!!-exactly what I needed. I can’t wait to show you pictures—I’ll try to get some up on Facebook next week. Hopefully it continues to warm up…by the time I get to Malaysia I’ll be complaining and sweating my pants off, but for right now… ;D.
God is continuing to show me things and reveal Himself to me which is amazing…I want that desire for Him always. I never want to stop seeking Him or wanting to know more—that’s my constant prayer. I’ll try to write next week again as we have lectures for a couple of weeks and should have a more stable/constant internet. Please keep me in your prayers as you are in mine…I love you all…may God bless you abundantly!

Rach

A scripture from my quiet time yesterday…something to think about… :D James 1:22-25

Hey everyone!! Just to make sure you all know…I am still alive…I just haven’t had internet for a while!! Last weekend was crazy as we left Sunday morning for South Africa and outreach!! (I still can’t believe it?!) I decided after the face that I should have blogged on Saturday before I left but oh well. :S I have a couple of weeks to talk about so I guess I’ll talk about my last week of lectures at Perth first.

The topic was Evangelism and it was pretty interesting. One thing that I learned was that not only is love the center of Christianity, it’s also the center of evangelism—it’s our motivation for reaching others with the gospel. Our job in evangelism and also in life in general is to love everyone and to show them how valuable they are…and that’s actually evangelism! The majority of DTS outreach is personal evangelism which can be really tough, but that’s when God’s power can work through me. I’m going to have to trust Him and rely on Him for all knowledge, courage and strength on outreach…huge for me. So prayers for that and prayers against discouragement would be amazing.. :)

This first week in South Africa has been spent at a spa resort…oh yes… :D. Hot springs, Jacuzzis, amazing…although I haven’t had a lot of opportunity to use them…it’s crazy this week!! The University of the Nations which is a big part of YWAM and is based out of Kona, Hawaii, had a conference and we were lucky enough to be able to attend. We had seminars in the mornings in which we were connected through Genesis (a variation of skype) with 3 other locations—Kiev, Cairo and Lausanne. The afternoons consisted of seminars here on location that we were able to choose from. I went to a few excellent sessions—very challenging. The first was called Leadership: The Call to Slavery…pretty self-explanatory—be a slave through prayer, evangelism, fellowship and hospitality, etc. Another seminar was called Bible Education and Leadership Training. It was mostly about how the Bible is not only for salvation, but it’s also a guideline, an instruction book that shows how to live in community with others. It was pretty good.

So tomorrow I start outreach. Insane. Our days are going to be packed full and I’m not sure when I’ll have opportunity to get online and update everyone or even talk to anyone. Hopefully I’ll get some opportunity at least once a week so I’ll try to keep you all in the loop as much as possible but I’m not making any promises…unfortunately. :( I know this is pretty short…compared to my other blogs anyway…! Ha! I need to get some laundry done since I’m not sure when the next time I’ll be able to use a washing machine is… :S I just wanted to say thank you so much for all of your prayers and I would really appreciate continued support. Prayers for courage, endurance, energy, boldness, patience, etc. I also really want God to break my heart on outreach. I want my view of the world and of life to be changed forever. It may wreck me, but it will create an opportunity for me to be extremely close to the heart of God and that’s truly what I desire. Even though I may be scared and nervous about outreach, I really want to be broken…to be forever changed for the better. Please pray!? :)

I love you all and thank God for you and the blessing you’ve been to me. I miss you and can’t wait to tell you more about the adventures and experiences I’m gaining half way around the world! Have a wonderful week…

Love, Rachel

WEEK 8.
wow...this week was intense...but it was so good!! I'll start at the beginning...on Saturday morning I heard from God that i was to start fasting. I didn't know why i was fasting until Saturday night or Sunday morning--I don't really remember. I've never done a real fast before so i was sure that this was bound to be interesting. ;) The only reason i got for why i was fasting was for "group unity". I prayed with Christina, one of my friends here, and we felt like there were some problems with the unity of our DTS that God was trying to show our group through me. I didn't get very much other information about my fast--only to keep fasting.

On Monday morning God taught me something through the fast--during base worship (the whole YWAM base is together in worship on Mon a.m.'s) i got very thirsty and weak. Instead of getting a drink, i stuck it out and i felt God reveal to me that this thirst is the type of thirst i should have for Him and for His Word. It was pretty powerful. I also felt like because i was weak, Satan was really trying to pull me away from worship and distract me with my own weariness--I recognized it and fought through. It was a good lesson/experience to have for outreach because there will definitely be some times in which i will be worn out and exhausted...and that's when the devil is most likely to attack--when we're weak. That taught me, though, that i need to continually persevere and lean in toward God because my weakness can then be replaced with His strength.

I continued to fast through the week and on Thursday night...finally!! :)...i was released to end my 6-day fast. It was a great experience. The thing that shocked me the most was that I wasn't ever really hungry. Sure, there would be times that i would begin to feel hungry but i simply drank some water and that feeling was gone...completely. Those of you who know me very well know that i love to eat...so it was amazing to see and feel God completely provide for me!

It's crazy to think that I'm leaving Perth in less than a week...September 6! I don't feel like i've been here for long enough! ha. I'm excited for outreach, though...this week i was feeling a lot of spiritual blockage from Satan--trouble hearing God's voice, etc. and i know that God is going to do amazing things through me and my team during outreach. If anyone has forgotten, my team is going to Cape Town, South Africa for 5 weeks, Swaziland for 3 weeks, Malaysia for 3 weeks, and Bangkok, Thailand for the final 3 weeks. We'll be doing things like working with kids at risk, organizing sports for kids, street evangelism, performing skits and speaking in churches. It will definitely be a new experience but i can't wait to reach out to people.

Now onto this week's topic...i'll try to keep it short! ha! The topic was the Father Heart of God with Mike Oman. He was an incredible speaker!! His stories and experiences are so amazing!! He actually wrote a book The Father Heart of God--little promotion item! :D I'm getting ready to start reading it--he said a lot of the book is what we got in lectures this week-which was very good so i would definitely recommend the book! Anyway...he really emphasized how God is like an earthly father--he loves to comfort and protect us--with no questions or prerequisites of any kind! He'll take us with our baggage, our weaknesses, our sins...He doesn't want us to be perfect before we run to Him, He wants to help clean us up! That's one thing i really struggled with before this week--i felt like before i could run and jump into my Father's arms, i had to be clean and free of sin. Mike explained it very well with an analogy--his grandson got a new backpack and wouldn't take it off, but he wanted a hug and to sit on Mike's lap. Mike didn't care about the extra baggage--both the bag and his grandson still fit easily into his arms. That's exactly how God feels toward His children! Such a great revelation! :D

Another great point Mike made was that works don't impress God. Nothing we can do or make is worth anything to God--it's like a child making an airplane for his dad--the dad will appreciate it and love it because of who made it, but he won't have any use for it...he doesn't need it. What an earthly father--and our heavenly Father--really wants is to spend time with his kids-quality hang-out time. Key: God wants me...not my efforts. He can't live through my efforts...only through a life surrendered to Him.

There were countless other teachings, illustrations and explanations and i'm sure many are in his book. I can't wait to read it! :D This was such a powerful week of teaching for me...learning to trust God more--that He will provide for me no matter what because He loves me so much!

Please continue to keep me in your prayers this week as my team and i prepare for outreach. Pray that i will receive God's heart for the people of the nations we'll be ministering in, that the rest of my school's $12,000 AUD debt comes in, and that God will prepare me for the things i'll encounter and experience. Thank you all so much for your support...i love you all!!

Rach

Week 7...in two weeks i'll be leaving for South Africa...weird. :) I'm so excited though!! This week was crazy, stressful, and amazing all at once--finances were due on Wednesday (the 19th). My DTS has been gathering at 6:00a each morning for the past week or two to pray specifically for our finances and we'd seen some movement in money but on Wednesday only two people had the money for the trip. I still needed about $645. Wednesday night we met at 6:30p to have a prayer session but right before that i checked my mailbox for receipts from the accounts office (online donations) and i checked my email as well. It was all there!!! Between receipts and emails all of the money i needed was in. God is so amazing!!

I've never had to trust for so much money before and I've definitely learned a lot from it...for one, God is so incredibly faithful--if He guides, He will provide. I also learned that obedience is so important--throughout the week, God gave me names of people to contact for support and i had to do my part and obey Him--and He provided!! If i wouldn't have obeyed, though, i would probably still owe money. Trustworthiness...that's something that God has been working on in my life during this DTS and the fact that He provided this money is just another indication of how much better God can take care of me than i ever could...why would i not trust Him with my life?!

Even though I got all of my money on time, unfortunately about half of the people on my DTS still don't have their money. We're still trusting God for a little over $22,000 for the rest of our group. We're hoping it comes in the next couple of days so we can get plane tickets booked... Today my school started learning one of the dramas we're going to be performing on outreach...it's to the song Everything by Lifehouse. It's a pretty powerful drama. I'm definitely not a drama person but it was fun!! Some of you i'm sure will find it amusing that I'm doing dramas...you know who you are! ha! :D

This week's lecture topic was spiritual warfare and our speaker was actually videos--Dean Sherman is pretty popular on this topic and we watched his sessions on DVD. It sounds like a pretty intense topic--i thought it was going to be all about casting out demons, etc, but it really wasn't. Dean really emphasized that there are two systems against each other--the kingdom of heaven and the world which lies in the control of the enemy. He stressed that we're fighting principalities and the strategies of Satan...NOT flesh and blood. If we're in strife with other people, we're actually aiding the cause of the devil...that really hit home for me!

Dean defined spiritual warfare with the three R's: recognizing the strategies of the enemy, refusing to cooperate and resisting those strategies. We as humans leave gaps in our spiritual armor through 4 different areas: 1. the mind (fear, pride, judgement, discontent, etc) 2. the heart (attitude, negative emotions, not dealing with sin, etc.) 3. the mouth (coarse language, venting to people--that was huge for me!!) 4. relationships (strife/argument=open gate) If we can identify these gaps, we can stop cooperating with Satan, and we can close those gaps.

One of the biggest keys from the lectures for me was something that Dean really highlighted-- #1 because we are children of God we are secure and loved in Christ...but... #2 we as God's children have commandments to follow. If we get lazy, we open the door to the devil and his strategies begin to take ahold and prevail over us. The scary thing is that when we leave gates open for satan, it not only affects us, but other people involved, as well as the rest of the human race! Dean said numerous times throughout the week that the devil has exactly as much authority in the world as humans give him. That's scary to think about because i feel like our world and society is only becoming worse...but we can help change that! This week provided a lot of "food for thought". :)

Well, thanks again for reading...i'll let you know next week how the financial situation pans out... :) We'd appreciate your prayers for finances!! Thanks so much.

Love you all,
Rachel

Week 6...I'm 1/4 of the way done with my DTS...how crazy!?! It's been such an awesome experience so far, and as usual, I'm learning and growing so much! I'm so unbelievably grateful for this experience--I've been deeply blessed! ...Especially by all of you who have supported me both financially and through prayer--may God bless you abundantly!!

This week has been pretty rainy and chilly...kind of a bummer compared to the amazingly warm weather we had last week. :( Hopefully it decides to start warming up again...and to stay that way!!

Last night one of the schools here on base hosted a 24 hour prayer session for outreach and finances and i participated from 12:45a til 3:15. It was pretty intense and i think we did some definite damage to the enemy and his strongholds on those areas. I feel like I got a prophetic word for my outreach--someone was praying for Swaziland and the people of the country who have HIV/AIDS. They prayed that the women of the Sports DTS (me and a teammate Desiree) would be able to speak purity to especially the women there, and how even after it's taken that it can be restored through Christ. It was very powerful...I also felt like we are going to be bringing hope and light to a nation where there is very little of either. It excites me even more for outreach and for what we're going to be doing. :D

Speaking of outreach...just a finance update--my total is coming down...slowly but surely. Finances are due in 3 days and i do still have a need but God is still coming through and showing His faithfulness and generosity while I continue to press in for that release...praise God! :)

This week's lecture topic was the Fear of God. It was such an incredible week for me because I've never really known what the FOG (Fear of God) was, but it's such an important and necessary thing in our Christian walks!!...so i'm glad i now have that knowledge! :) It also helped me understand myself and God's character so much better. Our speaker was Ari Sloots--a base leader here--he was incredible--very vibrant and interactive. I took the most notes i ever have--12 pages! ha! :) One of the most important things i learned was the actual definition of the FOG--#1 to hate sin like God hates sin, and #2 to praise, revere, honor and stand in complete awe of God--to have a deep passion for Him.

One of the key things that Ari highlighted all week and that i was really convicted of was that i need to have an undying passion for God--to be in passionate pursuit of an ever-deeper intimacy with Him. The thing that finally connected for me was that this passion, this desire for intimacy is a choice--MY choice...YOUR choice. It's not just going to fall into my lap and i can't just pray it into my life. I have to actively make a daily choice to pursue God and to engage with Him. After all, who wants to be in a one-sided relationship?? God doesn't want to be the only one consistently pursuing us (b/c He does and is always)--but He wants us to be pro-active, to lean into him. Ari used sports as an analogy to the FOG and it was perfect! For example, what would happen if an athlete tried to go into the big game or match with no preparation, no excitement, no fire? He/she would be dominated!!--especially by someone who is passionate about it. The exact same thing happens when we go into worship, prayer, quiet time or our day in general without passion or excitement--Satan completely dominates us! He has that desire to hold us back and to hinder us from being in an intimate relationship with God--and the sad thing is, I've let him win! Now that i've finally realized that and made that connection, it's so much more clear to me--i need to daily throw of heaviness, tiredness, homesickness, etc. in order to deeply connect with God and be as in-tune with Him as possible.

Another thing that Ari talked about that really struck me was the topic of fearing man (Proverbs 29:25). I realized that i've struggled with this area quite a bit in the past. For example, I worry about what others will think about me in situations, I want to be everyone's friend--I avoid conflict at all costs, or I fail to correct someone or something I see because I'm afraid of what they will think. If I fear man more than I fear God, it will only be a stumbling block for me and I will end up forgetting about or ignoring God's desires for my life in order to please people around me. It's definitely an area where i need a greater FOG.

So...Key of the Week: Ecclesiastes 12:13b--"Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man"...Fear of God=a passionate pursuit after God. Make a choice!!

Hope you all have a great week...God bless you in everything you do!
Love, Rachel

ps. if any of you still want to donate just send me a fb message or an email r.steckly@hotmail.com Thanks!!!

Hello all...another weekend...it's crazy how fast these days go by! On saturday my DTS went on an all-day canoeing trip down moore river which is a good hour north of Perth. It was fun!...more than i thought it was going to be at the beginning of the day when i woke up to clouds and rain...!! :S but it turned out to be a beautiful day and fairly entertaining...a couple of my friends flipped their canoe-that was amusing... :D we paddled about 12 km downriver to where the river meets the ocean and on the way there are some huge sand dunes so we stopped and had some fun there for a while...rolling down and sliding down on cardboard. luckily no one got hurt but there were a couple of head-over-heels flips including one from me! ha! i'm sure i'll be feeling it tomorrow... :S :).

So lectures this week were by Shirley Brownhill, our base director, about relationships. I really liked this week's lectures--although she didn't have many specific teaching points, there was so much good information i got from the week. She talked a lot about the relationship between us and God, but also really emphasized our relationship with other humans in relation to God and how He sees relationships. A few points that really stood out to me this week are as follows...

1. The quote, "Out of the mouth, the heart speaks." --This is so key because we can't use the excuse "i don't know where that came from" or "that comment just slipped out". Whatever is coming out of our mouths is somewhere in our hearts and if it's not from Philippians 4:8, we have some things to work on. Any sin in our hearts is a relationship breaker which is exactly what satan is trying to do--ruin relationships. Very convicting...

2. If we are in situations with difficult people, God is trying to teach us something. This is almost encouraging because it proves that difficult people aren't put in our lives just to push our buttons and test our patience!! :D but it shows that God actually wants us to grow and learn something valuable from the person or the situation...so ask Him what it is! If we become best friends with the person, then we've succeeded!! ha! :)

3. "Spiritual maturiy is not how long you've been a Christian, it's what you do with the truth and how well you actually know Him." I could be a Christian my whole life but not actually ever be mature in my faith. Kind of a scary thought... but what a challenge, huh?!? Which leads me to the last thing...

4. God has personally convicted me this week of not being in the Word enough. That's our lifeline--our key to knowing God, and i have neglected it. The Bible is one of the major ways that we mature in our faith and without it, there's so much more room for satan to maneuver. So my goal for the rest of this year is to read the New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs. Very doable...now i just need to do it! ...it's all up to me... : )

So that's all for this week...i'm still working on outreach funding--lots of prayer! :D

Love and blessings,
Rachel

End of week 4...this week was very nice...it definitely warmed up. i just hope it will stay like this...!! :D Some friends and i went to the beach this afternoon...it was amazing. Another good thing about this weekend--i found out for sure that i'm going to Swaziland and Thailand for outreach..I'm pretty excited about that!

This week's lecture topic was intercession and worship. It was interesting...i learned a lot of new things. Before coming to YWAM i'd never really heard of or understood the topic of intercession. I find it amazing that we can actually release God to work in the life of a non-believer, or to push satan away from a person through intercession. My DTS is currently praying for the places we are going and the people we will be in contact with on our outreach locations. We ask God what He wants us to pray for, He tells us and then we pray for those things. I love that i can know exactly what a person or place needs prayer for instead of just praying a general prayer.

The other topic of the week was worship. There was a lot of good information presented in the three days of worship lecture but something that really stood out to me the most was the fact that worship should be a lifestyle and not just something we do before the sermon at church. We should be praising God and worshipping His holiness in everything we do--even cleaning toilets...just praise God for the fact that we have toilets!! haha. But really, God convicted me of not leading a life of complete worship...He is totally worthy of our praise at all times and in every situation--good or bad.

So that's my little speech of the week--i decided to keep it shorter this time. : ) Continued prayer would be much apprectiated!! Some things to be praying for are that finances for my outreach would come in, that i would be able to put into practice all that i'm learning, that my DTS would continue to mesh well with one another and that God would continue to work in us to prepare us for outreach. Thanks so much for reading!! I love you all...

Rachel

Ahh the end of another week...it's Sunday but i haven't felt like i've really had a weekend...i'm always so busy!! i know i say this every week but it's ridiculously true...lol. This week's lecture topic was repentance and forgiveness week. There had been a lot of hype around base about this week because at the end of the week, friday's application is crazy. Basically each person writes down all of the sins they feel like God is convicting them of, or all the people they feel they need to forgive, and each person gets up in the front of the room and repents--praying out-loud to God for forgiveness. It's an incredibly humbling experience, but at the same time, so freeing. I actually went first in my class--a nice big step for me :D--and afterward i felt so much closer to God. It was like i could see more clearly His ridiculous amounts of unfailing love, grace and forgiveness. It's even harder for me now to fathom how God could sacrifice so much--sending Jesus to suffer horribly and die on the cross--just for me. There's no way i could ever even come close to deserving anything like that but He did it anyway.

One of the things that really hit home for me was what our speaker called the Key to Repentance--we need to look at sin in regards to how it affects God and not only us or our reputation, appearance, etc. God hates sin and basically if we stay in sin, we are saying to God, 'I hate you and i love my sin so much that i will walk away from you in order to have it.' That was really a turning point in the week for me--i needed a revelation like that so i could see that i wasn't the only one affected by my sins--someone much more important than me was hurt so much worse by my actions.

Another thing i really liked was our speaker's analogy of sin: Sin is like a brain tumor--if it's only covered up, it will ultimately destroy us. As i said last week in my blog, these new ways of looking at sin are so good for me because i'm getting the focus off of myself and onto someone much more important.

So now that I've repented, i'm perfect!! ...no i'm totally joking-obviously. I know that I'm going to fall into sin again but i think i have a much clearer view of a lot of things-especially what God has done for me...and i'm completely motivated by that picture of perfect love and grace. I'll have to keep reviewing my notes...!! :D

This weekend my DTS had a fundraiser--a car wash!! It was Saturday morning and afternoon and i had the morning shift--it was so cold!! We ended up bringing in about $450 dollars for our outreach fees so that will help. that's the other big thing that happened this week--we found out our outreach location options...and costs... :S. Things aren't completely solidified yet but I'm pretty positive of my location. There were two different options--Botswana/Indonesia and Swaziland/Thailand. There are also a couple of places that our whole group is going to be at together--so i'll try to explain this so it makes sense... :D

Week 1: group together at YWAM conference in Cape Town, South Africa

Week 2-3: groups separate doing outreach at diff locations in Cape Town

Week 4-5: together having lectures at YWAM base in Muizenburg, SA (suburb of Cape Town)

Week 6-8: separate in Botswana or Swaziland

Week 9-11: together in Malaysia

Week 12-14: separate in Indonesia or Thailand

Week 15: report-back week in Perth

We leave for Cape Town as a school the weekend of September 4. I felt God leading me toward the Swaziland/Thailand trip so i'm pretty positive of that location--like i said earlier. I'm really excited about our outreach...our group is extremely blessed this year because we have 4 different places we're going for outreach while normally the DTS's only go to one location for the whole 3 months! The only bad thing about so many locations is that the cost increases. :( The total of my trip right now is $5150 australian dollars ($4215 american dollars). There is a possibility that the cost could still increase slightly, depending on when we get our plane tickets booked, but that's a pretty good estimate. right now i have about $1800 american dollars so i have a little way to go... :S if anyone feels the need to donate... :D but really--checks can still be made out to Hillcrest Evangelical Free Church and mailed to:

Rachel Steckly

3302 Pioneers Rd.

Milford, NE 68405

We will be continuing to fundraise as a DTS and i'm going to be asking God for strategies and ideas for me personally to fundraise, but any donations would be so appreciated!! Thanks so much guys!

love, rach

so week 2...it's been so busy!! i thought that once i got into some form of a routine, things would slow down and i would have more free time...apparently that is just not so! one of my friends said that it will only get busier from here with weekend fundraisers and activities and such. Crazy!! :D At this point though (saturday afternoon), i have all of my homework done for the weekend-yay! It was so nice to be able to sleep in past 5:45 this morning--and it may become even more rare. :( ha.

This week our lectures were all about the character of God. Richard Blake was our speaker...and amazing one at that. i loved the way he explained things very clearly and in terms of me and my relationship with God today. He also presented some good challenges. one of the reasons i decided to do missions with YWAM was because of the lectures and teaching phase--i like their mandate to "Know God and to make Him known." so naturally, i loved this week's topic because i really want to strengthen my relationship with God and in order to do that i need to know and learn His character and ways. It was definitely good background information. one thing that really stood out to me and was the fact that God is a theistic God as opposed to a deistic God. He's very personal and involved in our lives--he "interferes" and directs us. I don't know about you but it would pretty much stink if we were created and then left alone to fend for ourselves in this crazy, mixed up world.

Another thing that was really interesting to me that Richard said is that the Bible is incomplete. That struck me as strange at first, but the more i thought about, the more sense it makes--God wrote it for us but in order for us to really understand it and get the most out of it, we need God to intercede and help us out with meanings and applications. I really like looking at it in that light because it's kind of like a puzzle or a mystery...it also requires a deep and personal relationship with the author...which is my original goal! :D

Richard also introduced a new phrase equal to sin--relationship destroyer. I really love this description because for me, sin has almost become--not cliche--but maybe over-used...? Anyway, i really like that description because it creates an actual picture for me--i can actually imagine the damage it would do--destroying a relationship--not only with God but also with whoever is involved. It makes me think even more about the things i do or say before i do or say them.

My favorite challenge of the week from Richard was the verse 1 John 4:20--if anyone says,"I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. It really made me think about how i relate to others and how i treat them. Our relationship with God is directly related to our relationships with humans. Think about it... : ).

Friday's class was pretty intense--our 2 hour lecture session turned into 6 hours and 15 minutes. Our application for the whole week was praying and getting a word from God about which of His many attributes we either had a false view of, or needed to work on. We then proceeded to stand up in the front of the room and we prayed for each person in the class(about 40 people). It was incredible how God moved each person and revealed himself to each of us. My weak area turned out to be understanding the enormity and depth of God's love for me and the fact that no matter where I am or what's going on in my life, He is always enough for me. Prayer from you all for revelation of that love would be amazing... : ).

Well, that's pretty much it for now, sorry this week's post was so long...!! haha talk to you all soon,
Rachel

hello all...first week...it was crazy...to say the least! :D today (saturday) my DTS and the other July DTS took a nice little trip to the beach. it was a little chilly but after we were there for a bit the sun came out and it was gorgeously warm. ha. took a little nap...it was nice. i'll get some pictures up on facebook sometime soon...i have homework this weekend... :( i seriously feel like i'm in college still. ha. i just thought i'd let you guys know that the address here is

PO Box 8501

Perth Business Centre

PERTH, WA 6849

AUSTRALIA

although i did hear that it's fairly expensive to send packages...i don't know how letters are. :) Some friends and i are going to a movie in a little while...this is one of the only things/businesses in Perth that's open past about 9 or 10. Everything closes down during the week at about 5:30p and only a little later on the weekends...weird. lol anyway...more later.

hmm..yeah i just noticed that times and dates are off...since it is currently 2:20 on wednesday july 8...oh well. :) just know that there's a 13 hour time difference. ha

So it's the middle of my first week...we've been doing a lot of introductory things...it's going pretty slow right now but i think it will continue until i get into a routine. that should come pretty soon... :D i still am missing everyone at home and stuff but am enjoying meeting new people. tomorrow morning my DTS starts with exercises at 6:00 am!! that will be interesting. :D lol. there are currently 13 students in my school with 3 leaders. there's one more that's supposed to get here on saturday...then we should be pretty much complete. the first few days were pretty challenging for me just because of all the unfamiliarity and such. i think this blog is probably sounding pretty random but oh well... :) i've put some pictures on facebook...i might try to get some up on here but we'll see...this is a little more complicated for me right now. haha. Right now i'm praying that God would really reveal himself to me and show me his beauty so i'll just have that complete desire and desperation for him in my life. I really want to use the lectures that we'll have every day to draw close to him and learn so much more about his character and also for him to know me more. i found out the other day that i'll actually be doing homework!! i'll have 3 book reports and a presentation..oh and a weekly journal. lol i thought i would be out of school for a while. :D well i'm out for now...i'll try my hardest to keep up on this blog but who knows with me... ha!

So we'll try this blogging thing out... :D I've officially started this trip. I was sad to leave everyone but I'm pretty excited about the new things i'll encounter. I guess it's just the first couple weeks of adjustment i'm not really looking forward to...those of you who know me really well know that i'm not the biggest fan of change. :) Your thoughts and prayers would be greatly appreciated--especially for these first few weeks. I'm looking forward to my 6 hour layover at LAX followed by the 14 hour flight to sydney...not. Hopefully it goes by at a decent pace. ha. Well maybe i'll get bored in LA and write some more...until then...